Six Days in SoCal
Feb 20, 2009 | 6:27 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: BOS
Posts: 57
Six Days in SoCal
Just got home. We had a great time!
Saturday the 14th- We left Boston at like 7 am, flew to Vegas for a short layover, then proceeded to LA, where we landed at around 11:30 am local time. From there we went to the Hertz place, got the Chrysler and then went to the hotel. We just kind of hung out at the hotel and went to the pier (we were right next to it!!). For dinner that night, the 'rents went to the hotel restaurant and we kids got some room service (mmm...reuben sandwich *drools*).
Sunday the 15th- Started off the morning with breakfast at the hotel and then we went to mass at the Santa Monica Catholic Church. That was an unreal experience. It reminded me of James Brown's church in the Blues Brothers. The people were so nice and welcoming, it was a far cry for what we have for church services here! Wow! They had a pissah worship band, too.
After mass, we went to Universal for the rest of the day. I felt sick to my stomach, so I didn't go on any rides, but I really enjoyed the studio tour and the shows. I was bummin' though, because I really wanted to go on the Simpsons ride, but man, did I feel pretty ill. I ended up getting better by the end of the day (sacrificed the Shrek 4-D movie for a trip to the john- good decision making on my part). For dinner we went to some Mexican place in Universal Citywalk or whatever they call that Downtown Disney kind of place. Bean and cheese burrito was delicious, and the mariachi band was great!
Monday the 16th- Late morning that day. Went out to breakfast at this place called Jinky's near 3rd street. Really good food there, I recommend the eggs benedict. Later on, my dad and I went to the Tonight Show at NBC studios in Burbank. We got there really early, and got in line near these really nice people from Cleveland and talked to them until the pages or interns or whatever they were came out and read us the rules and checked our tickets and IDs. They seated people in groups of 30, and gave a bucket to every 30th person to use as a marker. I was the 30th person in line, and was standing there holding my bucket, when a few people in line came up and tossed some change in my bucket. I thought that was a riot! The show was great, Jay had Kevin Bacon and some guy who made an alternative energy movie called "Fuel" on as guests.
Jay was really on his game that night, and Kevin Bacon was a really funny guy who seems pretty down to earth. The filmmaker guy had some good ideas and I think I'm gonna check out the movie. Lily Allen was the musical guest, and she was GREAT, not to mention she's ****ing beautiful. The Tonight Show band was really good too. I think I'd pay money to see them if they ever had a concert. All in all, it was a really good show. For dinner that night, we went to the California Pizza Kitchen, and I got the BBQ Chicken pizza which was delicious.
Tuesday the 17th- Had breakfast at the hotel, and then went into LA itself for the day. Started with the Peterson Auto Museum, which I had been jonesin' to go to for years and years, so it was really cool to finally go. There are 2 floors of really cool cars and motorcycles, with a 3rd floor of things for little kids. Next we went to the LaBrea tar pits and the park there. Cool stuff, but I couldn't really see much. After that, we went to the Farmers Market, which I have to say is one of the most incredible things I think I've seen in a long time. So many different people and so many different cultures all coming together in one place. I could spend a day there, man.
Finally, we drove around to the Hollywood Forever cemetery. Not really many notable people there. The only people I'd ever really heard of there were Johnny and DeeDee Ramone, and Mel Blanc. It seemed like it was mainly B-and-C list "stars" interred there, with a couple big names mixed in. For dinner that night, we went to this place called Buca de Beppo across from that Jinky's place we went to for breakfast before. Good Italian food served family style. Good value when you realize that maybe 2 dishes at about $24 each will feed 5 people.
Wednesday the 18th- Light breakfast at the hotel bar. For me it was a croissant and some yogurt, because we'd be eating for most of today. Early, my dad and siblings and I rented some bikes and took the bike road to Venice, which is probably the most strange and wonderful places in the world. A mix of the whole artsy, hippie, Grateful Dead sort of vibe with that certain seedy kind of charm that some places have. Later, we met up with family friends at King's Fish House in Long Beach for lunch. I got the tuna melt, which was good, but not great. When we were done there, we drove down the PCH to meet some other friends that we never see in Orange County somewhere.
We stopped in Laguna beach because we had some time to kill. Nice place, Laguna. We went to the Candy Baron, where I got a pack of Fruit Stripe gum, which I haven't seen around here since I was around 10. My God, that stuff is good. After all that, we went to our friends' house for the evening and stayed for dinner.
Thursday the 19th- Another light breakfast, same as yesterday. Today we did the whole Hollywood thing. Starting out, we drove down Mulholland, taking in the views. Truly incredible. Once in Hollywood, we went down the Walk of Fame to the Chinese and Kodak Theaters. Lots of prepping for the Oscars, so access was kind of limited. I swear man, you get accosted like every 4 feet there. Whether it's a tour guide or a character actor or a rapper. I gave a rapper guy 5 bucks, only to have an amateur filmmaker come up and push his movie on me. I had no escape until my dad came over and said "come on let's go." Saved my rear. Afterwards, we met a high school friend of my parents' for lunch at California Pizza Kitchen on either Rodeo or Wilshire. I had the chicken caesar sandwich. Good food.
This guy though, is one of those small-town success story, eccentric millionaire kind of guys. Think Artie Ziff from the Simpsons, except less creepy and a genuinely nice dude. Very friendly and outgoing, still kind of like a kid at heart I guess. We drove around to look at the nice houses until we got tired and went back to the hotel and chilled there, going to the pier and the beach and the pool. For dinner, the parents again went to the hotel restaurant while we kids got to get whatever we wanted from room service so that we wouldn't waste any of the food money that the hotel gave us with the room. I had a caesar salad, fish tacos with fries, and this dessert that was a bit of different mousses and puddings and whatnot in these 4 big spoons. Pretty good for a last meal in paradise, I think.
Friday the 20th- Travel day! Checked out of the hotel at the crack of dawn in order to return the car and get to LAX on time. We got to LAX and checked the bags and all was going nicely until security. We get in this long line, ok? Then me and my brother get up front and start to get ready for the metal detector when he turns to me and says "DAMN IT" and realizes that he still has his phone, and turns around to get another bin for it. That's when I figure that I still have mine as well, along with my wallet with metal on it. So we caused a little snag. No big deal...Until we get our stuff out of the X-ray machine and go to re-shoe our feet. I look around, pat my pockets and say "OH ****! Where's my boarding pass? Have you seen my boarding pass?" We frantically search for it for a couple minutes until I go running back to the TSA lady to ask her to check the bins for me.
After another few minutes of parental berating for being irresponsible, the lady comes and gives me my wayward pass. With all that said and done, I'm still, according to my mom "not responsible enough to go to college". Well thanks for the update, that's why I'm a junior, and not a graduate. At any rate, after the great LAX debacle of 2009, we're home again home again. Thanks for reading.
Saturday the 14th- We left Boston at like 7 am, flew to Vegas for a short layover, then proceeded to LA, where we landed at around 11:30 am local time. From there we went to the Hertz place, got the Chrysler and then went to the hotel. We just kind of hung out at the hotel and went to the pier (we were right next to it!!). For dinner that night, the 'rents went to the hotel restaurant and we kids got some room service (mmm...reuben sandwich *drools*).
Sunday the 15th- Started off the morning with breakfast at the hotel and then we went to mass at the Santa Monica Catholic Church. That was an unreal experience. It reminded me of James Brown's church in the Blues Brothers. The people were so nice and welcoming, it was a far cry for what we have for church services here! Wow! They had a pissah worship band, too.
After mass, we went to Universal for the rest of the day. I felt sick to my stomach, so I didn't go on any rides, but I really enjoyed the studio tour and the shows. I was bummin' though, because I really wanted to go on the Simpsons ride, but man, did I feel pretty ill. I ended up getting better by the end of the day (sacrificed the Shrek 4-D movie for a trip to the john- good decision making on my part). For dinner we went to some Mexican place in Universal Citywalk or whatever they call that Downtown Disney kind of place. Bean and cheese burrito was delicious, and the mariachi band was great!
Monday the 16th- Late morning that day. Went out to breakfast at this place called Jinky's near 3rd street. Really good food there, I recommend the eggs benedict. Later on, my dad and I went to the Tonight Show at NBC studios in Burbank. We got there really early, and got in line near these really nice people from Cleveland and talked to them until the pages or interns or whatever they were came out and read us the rules and checked our tickets and IDs. They seated people in groups of 30, and gave a bucket to every 30th person to use as a marker. I was the 30th person in line, and was standing there holding my bucket, when a few people in line came up and tossed some change in my bucket. I thought that was a riot! The show was great, Jay had Kevin Bacon and some guy who made an alternative energy movie called "Fuel" on as guests.
Jay was really on his game that night, and Kevin Bacon was a really funny guy who seems pretty down to earth. The filmmaker guy had some good ideas and I think I'm gonna check out the movie. Lily Allen was the musical guest, and she was GREAT, not to mention she's ****ing beautiful. The Tonight Show band was really good too. I think I'd pay money to see them if they ever had a concert. All in all, it was a really good show. For dinner that night, we went to the California Pizza Kitchen, and I got the BBQ Chicken pizza which was delicious.
Tuesday the 17th- Had breakfast at the hotel, and then went into LA itself for the day. Started with the Peterson Auto Museum, which I had been jonesin' to go to for years and years, so it was really cool to finally go. There are 2 floors of really cool cars and motorcycles, with a 3rd floor of things for little kids. Next we went to the LaBrea tar pits and the park there. Cool stuff, but I couldn't really see much. After that, we went to the Farmers Market, which I have to say is one of the most incredible things I think I've seen in a long time. So many different people and so many different cultures all coming together in one place. I could spend a day there, man.
Finally, we drove around to the Hollywood Forever cemetery. Not really many notable people there. The only people I'd ever really heard of there were Johnny and DeeDee Ramone, and Mel Blanc. It seemed like it was mainly B-and-C list "stars" interred there, with a couple big names mixed in. For dinner that night, we went to this place called Buca de Beppo across from that Jinky's place we went to for breakfast before. Good Italian food served family style. Good value when you realize that maybe 2 dishes at about $24 each will feed 5 people.
Wednesday the 18th- Light breakfast at the hotel bar. For me it was a croissant and some yogurt, because we'd be eating for most of today. Early, my dad and siblings and I rented some bikes and took the bike road to Venice, which is probably the most strange and wonderful places in the world. A mix of the whole artsy, hippie, Grateful Dead sort of vibe with that certain seedy kind of charm that some places have. Later, we met up with family friends at King's Fish House in Long Beach for lunch. I got the tuna melt, which was good, but not great. When we were done there, we drove down the PCH to meet some other friends that we never see in Orange County somewhere.
We stopped in Laguna beach because we had some time to kill. Nice place, Laguna. We went to the Candy Baron, where I got a pack of Fruit Stripe gum, which I haven't seen around here since I was around 10. My God, that stuff is good. After all that, we went to our friends' house for the evening and stayed for dinner.
Thursday the 19th- Another light breakfast, same as yesterday. Today we did the whole Hollywood thing. Starting out, we drove down Mulholland, taking in the views. Truly incredible. Once in Hollywood, we went down the Walk of Fame to the Chinese and Kodak Theaters. Lots of prepping for the Oscars, so access was kind of limited. I swear man, you get accosted like every 4 feet there. Whether it's a tour guide or a character actor or a rapper. I gave a rapper guy 5 bucks, only to have an amateur filmmaker come up and push his movie on me. I had no escape until my dad came over and said "come on let's go." Saved my rear. Afterwards, we met a high school friend of my parents' for lunch at California Pizza Kitchen on either Rodeo or Wilshire. I had the chicken caesar sandwich. Good food.
This guy though, is one of those small-town success story, eccentric millionaire kind of guys. Think Artie Ziff from the Simpsons, except less creepy and a genuinely nice dude. Very friendly and outgoing, still kind of like a kid at heart I guess. We drove around to look at the nice houses until we got tired and went back to the hotel and chilled there, going to the pier and the beach and the pool. For dinner, the parents again went to the hotel restaurant while we kids got to get whatever we wanted from room service so that we wouldn't waste any of the food money that the hotel gave us with the room. I had a caesar salad, fish tacos with fries, and this dessert that was a bit of different mousses and puddings and whatnot in these 4 big spoons. Pretty good for a last meal in paradise, I think.
Friday the 20th- Travel day! Checked out of the hotel at the crack of dawn in order to return the car and get to LAX on time. We got to LAX and checked the bags and all was going nicely until security. We get in this long line, ok? Then me and my brother get up front and start to get ready for the metal detector when he turns to me and says "DAMN IT" and realizes that he still has his phone, and turns around to get another bin for it. That's when I figure that I still have mine as well, along with my wallet with metal on it. So we caused a little snag. No big deal...Until we get our stuff out of the X-ray machine and go to re-shoe our feet. I look around, pat my pockets and say "OH ****! Where's my boarding pass? Have you seen my boarding pass?" We frantically search for it for a couple minutes until I go running back to the TSA lady to ask her to check the bins for me.
After another few minutes of parental berating for being irresponsible, the lady comes and gives me my wayward pass. With all that said and done, I'm still, according to my mom "not responsible enough to go to college". Well thanks for the update, that's why I'm a junior, and not a graduate. At any rate, after the great LAX debacle of 2009, we're home again home again. Thanks for reading.
